An Mhí v Cill Dara

[agorm]

Super show by Kildare. Sorely disappointing capitulation by us.

I'm writing this without having seen a paper or this board or anything else, so that I can say to myself what I think.  What I think is that this is a team going nowhere but backwards. Anything positive that happened this year, including the good performances against Dublin and Laois, were just pot luck, as far as I can see.

I cannot see any strategy, game plan or tactics that this team is playing to or has been coached to. When you have a number of good players on the field and they get good possession, they will turn in an impressive performance if the opposition lets them. That's what happened against Dublin and Laois.

When they meet a team like Kildare, playing to a system, with an organised defence and a game plan that everyone fully understands and implements, they flounder. And there is no support at all from the sideline. This is not a team without a Plan B. It's a team with no plan at all.

I've bemoaned here many times before the lack of reaction from the management to obvious problems. It's beyond conjecture now. This management doesn't do anything tactically. The team would fare as well if they came with just the bagman and his bag of jerseys.

Yesterday it was the full back line (again) being torn to pieces. The other 30 teams in the country (feckit even the 31st, Kilkenny) would have brought a forward back to be an extra defender in front of the full backs. Our pet goldfish would have seen the need to take Harrington out of his purgatory. But Eamonn O'Brien stood on the sideline for 75 minutes with his chin in his hand and did nothing. It's not as if this can have been a surprise to him and his selectors. We've had no defence for two years. What have they been doing to deal with that? Nothing I can see.

I'll buy a pint for any Meath supporter who can point to one tactical change made from the sideline in any championship game this year or last. I don't count the substitutions from the set list that doesn't seem to vary no matter what the circumstances of the game.

That's all there is to say, really. We managed to get to an All-Ireland quarter final with no input from the sideline. I think we knew, but didn't admit to ourselves, that it would come to a bad end.

Congratulations to Kildare. A great performance by a team that knows what it's doing. But I'd caution them not to take too much from yesterday. They beat nothing much.

Hardy, the irionic thing about the Leinster win is that O Brien will probably be deemed to be a success now because of it and will almost certainly keep his position in spite of the above which i agree with.

He doesnt come across in interviews as having any spark or as someone that could make that motivational half time speech or could generate a never say die belief from his players. While on paper there seems to be improvement with the Leinster win I have very little confidence that he can take us to the next level.

It was reported during the discussions on the Louth replay at the time that Meath management were "strongly against" a replay with Louth. That left a bad taste in my mouth at the time. I am not a lover of Louth (and even less after reading the crap from their so called supporters since) but I asked myself several times "what would sean Boylan have done?". I think Sean would have been a bigger man in those circumstances, I think Sean would have had an inner confidence in himself and his players that they could improve on the first display and identify and iron out the deficiencies that were so clearly displayed in the second half vs Louth. o'Brien hasnt come even close to irioning out those problem areas.

[Jinxy]

I said it before and I'll say it again.
We are a team that is managed, not a team that is coached.
We eschew tactics as some sort of celtic-tiger affectation in the belief that bombing the ball into our forwards will eventually bear fruit.
When we can't get hold of the ball around the middle we are bereft of attacking ideas.
We have some excellent players but FFS we need to develop a new style.
And that has to start in the league and we should be doing our level best to win promotion to Div. 1.
We don't have the athleticism and organisation to push for major honours.
However, these are things that can be worked on, but the county board and team management have to wake up and smell the coffee.

[Jinxy]

Just watched the match in full there.
Is it even possible to legally tackle John Doyle? 

[Mac2]

I said it before and I'll say it again.
We are a team that is managed, not a team that is coached.
We eschew tactics as some sort of celtic-tiger affectation in the belief that bombing the ball into our forwards will eventually bear fruit.
When we can't get hold of the ball around the middle we are bereft of attacking ideas.
We have some excellent players but FFS we need to develop a new style.
And that has to start in the league and we should be doing our level best to win promotion to Div. 1.
We don't have the athleticism and organisation to push for major honours.
However, these are things that can be worked on, but the county board and team management have to wake up and smell the coffee.

Is this what the celtic tiger has done, never thought I'd hear a meath-man use an expression like that.

[Dinny Breen]

Just watched the match in full there.
Is it even possible to legally tackle John Doyle? 

Maybe if they tackled the ball and not JD they might have better success 

[Jinxy]

He got a few soft ones now Dinny. 

[Dinny Breen]

There was a lot of soft frees and penalties but Doyle is clever in that in protects the ball in hunchback like fashion just waiting for the contact and the Meath defenders were a bit dumb in that they fell for it a lot. However Kildare were definitely awarded a phantom free with about 8 mins to go for a slight nudge on Sweeny as Kavanagh went up for and missed the ball. It was crucial as it restored Kildares lead back to 3.

[Jinxy]

In general I think players are now ducking and twisting as they are tackled so the tacklers arm goes over their shoulder.
Straight away the ref thinks "that's close to the neck/head" and blows for a free.
Chris O'Connor and Seamus Kenny were both harshly booked imho for tackles of this nature on JD.

[Bord na Mona man]

Near the end, did the ref move the ball up about 20+ metres for Meath dissent?
There was a foul around the '65 metre line and the ref sprinted away with the ball and left it at about the '45.
Was it a double punishment (13 metres X 2) or did he just lose the run of himself and carry it a huge distance?

[Dinny Breen]

He lost the run of himself but Eoghan O'Flaherty also stole about 5 yards as well...

[Jinxy]

Near the end, did the ref move the ball up about 20+ metres for Meath dissent?
There was a foul around the '65 metre line and the ref sprinted away with the ball and left it at about the '45.
Was it a double punishment (13 metres X 2) or did he just lose the run of himself and carry it a huge distance?

I was thinking he ran an awful long way. 
Fair dues to O'Flaherty though, he still had to put it over.

[Jinxy]

By the way, does that keeper carry on like that with the umpires in every game?
He was roaring and waving his arms after nearly every Meath point.
Even the ones that went over the black spot.

[Dinny Breen]

Yep every bloody game, more annoying than a 6 upside down....

[Donnellys Hollow]

Very annoying habit. Hate to see it along with other keepers who roar 'wide' or 'post' when a freetaker is kicking.

[Jinxy]

It was actually pretty funny. 
Graham Reilly scored a point in the first half that was a good 3 feet inside the post and the goalie went bananas at the umpire.
I'm not sure if he's doing it because he genuinely thinks they are wide, he's trying to play mind-games with the umpires, or he's actually just mad.